Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz talked to us EIE students about what it meant to be a Haredi Jew. Being a Haredi Jew means dedicating your life to studying Torah. Before coming to Israel the only time I had ever seen an Orthodox Jew was when my family and I went to NYC and drove through Brooklyn where we could see tons of men and women dressed in very modest clothing. Men wearing all black suits with those big fur hats and women wearing wigs and skirts that went down to their knees or longer. Rabbi Yitzchak talked to us about the many different types of Hasids and how to distinguish between them by their dress and style of the kippah. One of the main goals of Haredi Jews is to strive to improve ourselves and to make the world a better place. The Kippot is a reminder that Hashem is about you and that you yourself can never be more powerful than God.
After hearing all about life as a Haredi Jew, we hopped on a bus and went to the Orthodox neighborhood, Nachlaot. We walked in and out of little buildings and we observed their home lifestyle. When walking on the streets in this neighborhood you see bulletins everywhere advertising and letting people know what's going on the community.
(some advertising found on streets)
When you walk through the streets of this neighborhood you will see many interesting things like a genizah, tzedakah boxes built into the houses and a very beautiful synagogue. The synagogue that we walked by was decorated with symbols of the 12 tribes and many other things like that.
When you think about your Kehila Kedusha what characteristics come to mind? How do these characteristics differ from the ones in Nachlaot, and why are some of the things necessary in these people's everyday lives?
The term "kehilah kedoshah" has many connotations for me, but they are all linked together. For me, this term connotates my temple as a whole, my temple youth group, and my NFTY region. However, for me all these communities are tied together in innumerable ways, as is the Jewish community of the world. Characteristics about these communities that come to my mind are acceptance, support, guidance, and companionship. My home community lacks the aspect of seclusion essential to the kehilot kedoshot of Nachlaot. However, the community support and close relationships are similarities, and things that are necessary in the everyday lives of Nachlaot's inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteI wrote an entire confirmation statement about how I classify my personal kehilah kedosha: surrounded by people I love (often at NFTY) and all singing together and unified as one group of passionate Jewish people. My version of a holy community is different than that of the traditional and historic kehilot that we learned about. first, we are not as protected or secluded as the original kehilot. since Jews in America are so integrated into society, there is no need for that factor of separation between Jews and non Jews. What is most important to me is the factor of unification while I am within my personal kehilah.
ReplyDeleteMy kehillah kidoshah exists not as my shul but as my Hebrew school class. Some people have moved on, and in a year we'll all be in different places across the world, but five years after we had our bar and bat mitzvot, we remain close friends. I work with two of them every week at my Hebrew school as a teacher. The shul itself was important, but what drove the close-knit community that we created was really learning together in a small group of eight or nine. In Nachlaot, it seems the same, just at a larger scale and held together more closely. ~300 people eating together, living together, praying together. You don't need much more to create holy relationships and holy communities.
ReplyDelete-Noah Arnold
My kehilah kedosha is my group of camp friends. This group of people has always been loving, accepting, passionately Jewish, and some of the best friends I have ever had. I assume the same values would apply to Nachlaot. A group of Jews living and praying together is usually a very tight knit community and thus I'm sure the members of Nachlaot would identify their community as a kehilah kedosha.
ReplyDeleteI think my kehila kedosha is unique. We aren't very large and in the scheme of things don't fit into the definition of a true kehila kedosha like it existed in the eastern world. Personally, I consider my kehila kedosha to be my NFTY region that is spread out among four states. We are extremely tight knit when we are together and even when we aren't. We keep up our kehila in as many ways as possible regardless of where in the USA (or world) we all are. Characteristics of my kehila kedosha are plentiful. For one: we are incredibly open to all kind of people. We are loving and accepting and no matter what background you have or who you're friends with outside of NFTY. My region is excellent at making complete strangers feel like they've been a part of our family forever. I think my kehila is similar to nachlaot in that we're all close. We're different, but we are able to put those differences aside in order to get along and succeed as a community. We help each other with anything we can and inevitably love each other unconditionally.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Coleman
My kehilah kedosha is my camp community. I have a very close group of friends at camp, and they're the closest and most valuable friends I think I'll ever have, but the whole entire community is so special in itself. As a camp, I think we're unique and different than any other URJ camp. The people I've met there are people who have shaped me as a person, more specifically a Jewish person, and I think that's what you need in a kehilah kedosha. I'm sure the poeple who live in Nachlaot share some of those feelings. Although very different than a URJ summer camp, it's the core feeling of shared community through Judiasm.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a Kehilah Kedosha I think of an emotional bond between people. Even if the people in this community don't physically live close to each other, there is something that always connects them. My kehilah kedosha is my camp friend group. Even though we don't live near each other, we keep in contact and our friendships never dim. We always have each others' backs. Being in this Kehilah Kedosha is, to me, what makes being Jewish so amazing and meaningful. I believe the sense of community in Judaism is so important for emphasizing the spiritual aspects in Judaism.
ReplyDeletei idea of kehila kedosha is judaism to think that i could go anywhere in the world and relate to someone cultural, religiously, and share the same morales is absolutely outstanding. One characteristic would be friendship, people who you can relate to and tell them everything and they will always accept you. I think this idea docent change much with Nachloat because i believe they wanted the same thing for their friends and family.
ReplyDeleteBecause I'm not really involved in NFTY at home, I think I would consider the people in my synagogue my Kehilah Kedosha. I always feel so welcome and at home when I am there and I have always had an emotional bond to it where the people living in Nachlaot have more of a physical as well as an emotional bond to their Kehilah Kedosha.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I consider my synagogue at home (Barnart Temple) to be my Kehila Kedosha. I am not involved with NFTY, however I feel such a strong connection to my community at my temple for many reasons. One being that my two Rabbis have had profound influences on me and have taught me so so much. Praying with familiar faces and going to Hebrew school and religious school for numerous years created a bond that I did not feel anywhere else before I came to Israel. I feel that Nachlot is essentially just a Kehila Kedosha on a larger scale in the sense that although the community is much bigger the idea of friendship, support and a Sharing of similar religious beliefs are still extremely prevalent.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the idea of a קהילה קדושה, I think of people living together to form a community to accommodate their religious beliefs while allowing further ideas. This differs with Nachlaot because they are learning of what was made centuries prior to now but will not come up with anything new themselves.
ReplyDelete